February 02, 2011

Survey says: The Hawks have won over NHL players

Used to be, I could lobby for contracting the NHL and start with the Blackhawks, and wouldn’t get much of an argument. They were as laughable on the ice under Billfold Wirtz’s ownership as Wirtz’s ownership was off it.

But no more.

Forward-thinking son Rocky begat savvy sports businessman John McDonough begat hockey oracle Scotty Bowman begat the NHL’s best bench coach Joel Quenneville, and like that, the Hawks as a team and an organ-I-zation won a Stanley Cup and won over many players in the league, according to a recent and wide-ranging survey by the NHL Players Association and “Hockey Night In Canada.’’

I don’t know about you, but I love lists and surveys. I also like making fun of the results. Perhaps you’ve noticed. Anyway, you can read the full, intimidating bunch of clicks here, but because I’m a pleaser, not a teaser, I’ve waded through it to bring you the Hawks’ stuff and some other interesting results.

For starters, the Hawks tied for second with Vancouver as the team that players would most like to join, getting 11 percent of the vote compared to top-ranked Detroit at 14 percent. I know the Red Wings have won multiple Cups recently, but do the players realize they’d have to be in Detroit? Sounds like the NHL’s concussion problem is deeper than we think.

The United Center was named the players’ third-favorite rink to play in behind Montreal and Madison Square Garden. That’s either a tribute to Jim Cornelison and the fans’ national anthem in the Madhouse on Madison or has something to do with the Hawks’ embarrassing 16-13-0 home record.

One thing the Hawks’ placement in the previous category didn’t concern was the quality of the ice. As always, Edmonton was voted the best skating surface in the league, but here’s the thing: The Oilers also finished second to the Islanders as the team they’d least like to play for.

Quenneville finished fifth among coaches they’d most like to play for, a list topped by Pittsburgh’s Dan Bylsma. Both guys have the same number of Cups, and I don’t watch Bylsma every game the way I watch Quenneville, but if you don’t vote for a coach who rewards production with more ice time, then I wouldn’t want you on my team. Maybe some players were afraid of the Q-stache.

Out of nowhere came this: Fifth among coaches that players don’t want to play for was former Hawks boss Mike Keenan. Talk about deep hatred -- Keenan hasn’t coached for two seasons.

When asked which player they would select to start a franchise, the rank and file overwhelmingly chose Sidney Crosby, but look at that: Hawks captain Jonathan Toews finished fourth, ahead of playoff choker Alex Ovechkin.

Patrick Sharp was tied for third in the category of most underrated players. And then he won the All-Star Game MVP award. Secret’s out. The fear now is he becomes a candidate for most overrated.

Speaking of which, the most overrated player was Jay Cutler. Kidding. Kid. Ding. There wasn’t a category for naming the most overrated player because, remember, this is a poll courtesy of the players’ association. There was, however, a category for most overrated team, and the runaway winner (and first-round loser) was the Washington Capitals.

The most underrated team, by the way, was the Nashville Predators. Sounds like the Hawks voted in a bloc.

Duncan Keith showed pretty well in a couple categories, coming in fourth for best skater and fifth among toughest defenseman to play against. The latter category was won by Zdeno Chara, followed by Nicklas Lidstrom, evil Chris Pronger and Shea Weber. I assume Pronger also won the category of dirtiest player who intimidates referees the most.

Get a load of this, Hawks fans: Vancouver’s Roberto Luongo was voted the toughest goalie to beat. Did the NHLPA miss Luongo against the Hawks last spring? And the spring before that? One time, the Hawks made him cry, the next time, he eventually resigned his captaincy. What do the Hawks have to do before people figure it out? Make Luongo exceed his daily ATM limit?

Detroit’s Pavel Datsyuk was voted the toughest to take the puck off of. OK. Fine. But how does Marian Hossa not make the top five?

Former Hawk Dustin Byfuglien finished tied for fifth in hardest shot. This is one of those ooh-and-aah categories that doesn’t mean much except that it’ll rile up the stupid who obsess over Byfuglien’s absence this season instead of appreciating his part in the Cup-or-bust payroll strategy last season.

Oh, and as always, 98 percent of the players said fighting should not be abolished. I would assume the other 2 percent consisted of cowards who don’t want to face the consequences of their cheap-shot stickwork.

I will take Detroit any day over this hole! Typical hockey writer that hates just to hate. Doesn't have any real hockey knowledge or insight. Just a mouthpiece with a job. This is the kind of guy that gives these types of writers no respect and believability.

Why compare the actual city when looking at a hockey team? Sure Chicago as a city is in better shape than Detroit. But when you look at their hockey teams and those teams' history, there really is no comparison. Your jealousy of the Red Wings organization makes you look even dumber.

Get over Detroit. Your fans are sad... You finally win the cup and you have to chant 'Detroit sucks!' when we didn't even meet in the playoffs. You don't see our reporters repeatedly bash on yer city or team, yet you do it all the time. Maybe this is because our team succeeds every year? Anyways, if you're going to be jealous please make it less obvious.

-The state of Michigan.

P.S. Other than the less than classy "I punch old men" Patrick Kane - I have A LOT more respect for the actual Blackhawks than I do the majority of their fans or reporters.

OK, JC, I'll bite. Give me three reasons Detroit is a better place to live than Chicago. One of the reasons cannot be the Cubs, because in this city, we have two baseball teams to choose from. So, let's hear it: What makes Detroit better?

Well JC, I have lived in both, along with NYC,LA,Tampa,Philly and Reno and Detroit would finish LAST by a long shot out of every city i mentioned. Boring,Bad weather,hard to make a living unless you are in a few fields, Filthy,rude people and that was like 20 years ago! I hear it`s much worse now.
The Best?? Chicago then NYC You can throw Tampa with Detroit at the bottom! Every city on that list i lived in for at least 2 years with Detroit and Philly almost 4 (had to for a job). In the end i moved back to Chicago 8 years ago and am so glad i did. Of Course, i quit my job so i could. They are the reason i left after 29 years in the first place. Good Money, Bad Job!

The article? Nice to hear the Hawks and the city and their rink all are appreciated throughout the league.

Its actually funny, you being on your high horse about Chicago all the time, do I have to remind you that the Detroit team you talk so poorly of has been a top caliber team for 15-20 years, unlike the hawks who have been top caliber going on 3 years. So maybe thats why the like Detroit consistently winning does a lot for a team.

About the author

They tell me I have to write this bio thing to go along with my blog. Not sure you care, but the bosses apparently do, so here you go:

I've covered sports for more than 30 years in print, on radio and now in cyberspace. In that time, I've smoked cigars with Michael Jordan, Mike Ditka and Red Auerbach, I've been thrown on a table by NHL all-time bad boy Dave "Tiger'' Williams, I've covered the Super Bowl, NBA Finals and Stanley Cup Finals, I've had former Bears lineman Stan Thomas act like he was going to squeeze my head like a zit, I've interviewed Roger Clemens, Hank Aaron and Donald Trump, I've been cursed at by Mike Keenan, I've watched Denis Savard go into the Hockey Hall of Fame, I've been yelled at by Bill Wirtz, I talked sports with Ben Affleck at the World Series of Poker, and I cry almost every time I see Jim Craig skate up the ice looking for his dad in the stands as the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team wrote the greatest sports story ever. Ever.